I am just back from an official visit to Lhasa, Tibet, where I attended the celebrations of the China Tibet all 14, 8000m peaks success in a group. The three successful summiteers of All 14, 8000m Peaks are Tshering Dorje, Pemba Tashi and Lhotse under the leadership of Samdruk. Asian Trekking sponsored one of their early expedition (Mt.Lhotse) and outfitted all the expeditions (Mt.Annapurna, Daulagiri, Manaslu, Kanchanjunga and Makalu) in Nepal. I was there under the capacity of Chairman of Asian Trekking and also as the President of Nepal Mountaineering Association. This event was attended by high level delegates from Beijing and Lhasa.

As many of us learned in high school, reputations are in large part defined by the company we keep. I am dismayed that in Issue 21, Alpinist undermined its integrity and besmirched its good name by taking a spin with anti-climber Dean Potter.

Over the 4 days I hiked and crab crawled over 25 miles and climbed over 2,000 feet. Not impressive by most standards, but for someone who contracted paralytic polio at nine months of age, has been affected by post polio syndrome since he was nineteen and has endured other major injuries, it was huge.

See my recent comments in response to the rockfall photos taken Sunday, Sept. 2. We went up the next day and the Stettner was still letting loose. Had it not been for a brief break a couple of minutes before we headed to the col, we might have been pushing up daisies.

The Home Department of Sikkim has designated five newly opened Alpine Peaks to encourage small expeditions.

We will gather at Seneca on November 10 to remember Pete, Howard Doyle, and Greg Smith, all of whom died suddenly this year. If you can't make it, send pictures or stories to gregoryj@mindspring.com. We will try to read them at the event and hope to put together collections for the families.

My wife, Sally, and I spent Labor Day climbing in the Tetons. Our goal was the Complete Exum. I was supposed to be off work mid-day on Friday: we would enjoy the drive from Boise, pull into the valley as the sun was setting. We ended up leaving on Saturday, and eventually we found ourselves at the moraine, which was surprisingly uncrowded. The Ranger told us that only one or two parties had come in for a permit wanting to do the Exum. This was shaping up to be a great weekend.

Just finished unloading the mini van after 8,000 miles of driving. Sorting through all our dirty camping gear, unpaid bills, scraps of paper with e-mail addresses of new friends—and all the DVDs I smuggled across the border—has been a good reflection on the Higher Ground experience.

Artist and climber Emilie Lee recently held an exhibition of her art journals for the premier opening of the Rostel Gallery in Dunsmuir, CA. Some of her rich collages were first published in Issue 6 (Spring 2004) as "The Dumpster Diaries," a colorful slice of Lee's climbing adventures and the "dirtbag culture." In Lee's words: "These journals are an intimate portrait of my life, which not only captures a pivotal era in my development as an artist, but also a passing season which has shaped a generation of climbers."

Last night, I had that cliche dream. I sat meekly in a large class on a subject I knew nothing about. But there at the front of the room stood Sam Findley, my college Latin professor. Prancing before us in the same worn purple corduroys, he drilled his victims on obscure declensions. Be educated, or be embarrassed. Endless rows of ethereal students dutifully raised their hands and spoke in tongues, their selfsame, bland faces repeated ad infinitum as if reflected in two mirrors. His glee fueled by our mundane failures, Findley was hastily scribbling "um, us, urum, utus, utilius" and other such nonsense on the blackboard.

So, I have this journal. OK, it's more like a diary, containing all the things that a little girl's diary might have: romances and crushes, heartaches, and the occasional "I hate that bitch!" I've filled it with days of shopping for shoes and the latest fashion trends. I've described dream vacations I wanted to take to places like France and Argentina. Heck, I even described my first time, and how beautiful it was.